Vacuum cleaner



Feb. 10-, 1942.

is. 'w. OLSON VACUUM, CLEANER Filed July 15". 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet oar; W 018017,

. INVENTOR ATTOR N EYS WITNESS Feb. 10, 1942. w, OLSON 2,272,814

VACUUM CLEANER 'Filed July 15, 1940 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 I i I I i i 1' 4O 1 I I l 2 I I 1 i I I I w 536 7 wrm Ess ATTORNEYS noiseless.

Patented Feb. 10, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VACUUM CLEANER Carl W. Olson, Minneapolis, Minn. Application July 15, '1940, Serial No. 345,618

l Claims.

maximum degree, with minimum consumption,

of current, but renders the cleaner practically Those advantages are brought about by several important features among which is the provision of outlet means for thefree' passage of air from the suction fan and the elimination of the usual closed fabric dust bag, thus making it possible to materially reduce the speed of the fan, as in the conventional bag type cleaner the fan must rotate at a territfic. rate of speed in order to provide sufficient suction to overcome the back pressure resulting from the use of the closed dust bag.

Another object is to provide a suction cleaner a .that includes a relatively small suction chamber directly communicating with a relatively large dust chamber or collector, and due to the size of the dust chamber, in comparison with that of the suction chamber, the dust laden air will expand when it enters the dust chamber, which results in reducing the velocity of the air to an extent, so. that the dust ..will tend to settle or gravitate to the bottom of the dust collecting chamber, while the air is freely exhausted .through outlet means in the form of screened openings.

A further object is to provide a suction cleaner that includes means in the path of the dust laden air from the suction chamber, to separate the dust from the air, so as to increase the gravitating action'of the dust and to eliminate clogging of the screened openings, as the air.is'practically free from dust as it passes through the screens, and the separating means also decreases the velocity of th air and consequently noise.

A still further object is to provide a suction and is extremely eflicient in operation, use and service.

This invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the suction cleaner which forms the subject matter of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view.take n approximately on line 22 of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken approximately on line 33 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is' a sectional view taken approximately on line 4-4 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken approximately on line 5-5 of Figure 4, looking in the I direction of the arrows. v

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken approximately on line,66 of Figure 2, looking in the direction ofthe arrows.

cleaner that includes an improved suction and blower unit, in thatvthe suction chamber is provided with two laterally disposed inlet openings fromthe nozzle and the fan is of a squirrel cage type, as well as includes relatively wide vanes rotating about the fan motor, so as to not only cool the motor, but makes it possible for the tan and motor to take up minimum space.

Another object is to provide a suction cleaner that is simple in construction, inexpensive to -manufacture, light in weight, shaped to facilitate its application below furniture and the like, 55

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken approximately on line I---| of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings in detail, it will be noted that my cleaner includes a relatively narrow elongated casing providing the body therefor and having front and top wall portions l and 2 respectively that are curved in streamline formation and a removable rear wall portion 3 curved accordingly to the bottom of the casing,

as clearly shown in Figure 2. The front wall portion merges into an arcuate forward bottom wall portion 4 having formed on the rear thereof a downwardly curved intermediat bottom wall portion 5, while the remaining portion of the bottom of the casing is open but is closed by a dust receiving receptacle in the form of a drawer 6 which will be later described;

Shaped to follow the marginal edges of the respective wall portions I to 5 inclusive, are fiat side walls l detachably secured to said wallportions by screws, as shown, so that ready access can be had to the interior of the casing by removing either of the side walls. The said wall portions are shown as having formed thereon ears I for receiving the screws, but they may have inturned flanges formed thereon having threaded openings for the screws. Detachably and pivotally secured to the side walls are the arms- 9 ofa yoke having a socket in therein, within which is secured a handle II which may of course carry the usual switch for controlling the motor ,and'the usual bracket members for receiving the cord for the motor, as will be closed in close proximity to the surface to be cleaned, as will be apparent upon inspection of Figure 2'.

The arcuate forward bottom wall portion 4 is formed to extend into the casing, to provide a vertical partition l6 disposed transversely of the casing substantially midway its ends, as clearly shown in Figure 2. Formed on or otherwise secured to the wall portions i, 2 and A, as well as the partition I 6, is a pair of longitudinally extending partitions l1 cooperating with the side walls i to provide laterally disposed air inlet chambers l8 having communication with the inlet spout i2 by openings i9 disposed in the front wall portion and the partitions l'l. likewise cooperate'with the, partition It to provide a relatively small suction chamber 20 that directly communicates with a dust chamber 2| rearwardly of the partition ii through the medium of a passage provided by an opening 22 in the partition I! and by the upper rearwardly disposed extensions 23 of the partitions i'l,

' as well be obvious upon inspection of Figure 2.

The dust chamber is of the full width of the casing, as shown in Figure 3; consequently thedust chamber has a much larger area than that of the suction chamber, so when the dust laden air leaves the suction chamber, it will tend to expand within the dust chamber and thereby lose its velocity so that the dust will gravitate therefrom, while the air will pass through outlet openings in the form of slots 2| arranged in the side walls I one above the other andlonsi- ,tudinally thereof, as best shown in Figure 1.

The slots are covered with any suitable screening material 25, such as wire mesh, fabric, or

the like.

The partitions l1 areprovided with inlet openlugs 26 that register with each otherand are of a size to take up the major portion thereof. Suitably secured to one side wall I is a motor 21 that extends through the opening 22 of the adjacent partition H for disposal within the suction chamber 22, as best shown in Figure 4,

;and secured to the motor armature shaft which '5 throu h the opening 26 of the other closure 2 and is secured to and extends for-' wardly from the lower end of the-portion 2 for closing the rear opening in the bottom of the casing, as best shown in Figure-2. The side walls 1 as well as the rear end of the down .wardly curved intermediate bottom wall portion 5 are provided with grooves 23, the grooves of the side walls slidably receiving tongues 34 formed on the sides of the'drawer 6, while the groove of the wall portion 1 receivesv a tongue 35 formed on the forward portion of the drawer, as clearly shown in Figures 2, 6 and 7. The removable rear wall portion or closure 2 has webs. or flanges 36 secured thereto adjacent its side edges to-be received within the casing, and the upper edge portion of the wall portion 3 is reduced as at 31 for disposal in overlapped association with the reduced edge portion of the top wall portion 2, as clearly shown in Figure 2, whichlikewise illustratesthat the drawer 8 is further connected to the wall portion 3, by brace strips ll secured to the webs 38 and the sides of the drawer. Incrtier to facilitate the application and removal of the drawer, together with the wall portion or closure 3, the latter has secured thereto a handle 39.

Arranged in the dust chamber for disposal in i the path of the dust laden air from the suction partition, is a substantially semi-spherical hub member a of a fan which includes a ring a formed on and extending outwardly from the outer periphery of the hub member 22, for dis--' posal in surrounding relation about the motor casing: Secured to the ring 29 and extending from opposite sides thereof are curved blades ll' providlng vanes for the ,fan, and the ring 2! may be slotted and have the blades mounted chamber, is a spiral strip 40 thatis secured to the wall portion 3 to be carried thereby to facilitate cleaning the strip{ at the same time the dust is removed from the drawer 6, and the coils of the strip not only act in the capacity of reducing the velocity of dust laden air when it reaches the dust chamber, but also tends to separate the dust from the air, with the result it will be seen that the expanding air together with the coils of the strip 40 will cause the air to materially lose its velocity, and to an extent whereby the dust will settle or gravitate to and within the drawer 6.

I preferably provide strips ll and 12 of rubber or the like secur to and disposed respectively about the drawer and the open lower portion of the casing closed by the drawer, and arranged in a manner so that the strips will be disposed in overlapped association when the drawer is in place, as best shown in Figures 6 and 7, to provide a dust proof connection between the drawer and the casing.

i From the above description and the disclosure in the drawings, it is bellev ed thattheoperation of my cleaner will be obvious, but it might be mentioned that when it is in operation, the 'air currents produced by the fan end-as indicated by the direction arrows in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings, draw. dirt,' dust and foreign matter from the nozzle to the air inlet chambers ll throughthe medium of the ll. From the chambers ",the dust air is drawn through the openings 21mm, suction chamber 20, and thence is blown through. the opening 22 and passageway provided byes extensions 22,

as well as to separate-the dust therefrom, thence the air free from foreign matter passes through the screened slots 24 to the atmosphere; It will therefor be seen that the air passes freely through my cleaner, and thereby the suction action is not retarded, which makes it possible to run the fan at a greatly reduced speed than that of the fan of a conventional closed bag type cleaner, due to the-fact'that the bag sets up 'a back pressure which requires the fan to be rotated at a terriflcrate of speed in order to provide sufiicient suction-action. It will be further seen that the reduced fan speed, together with the decreased velocity of the air within the dust chamber, renders mycleaner practically noiseless, when considering the noise produced by the conventional cleaners.

. It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features ofthe invention will be readily apparent.

'It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided inlet chambers, and a relatively large dust chamher opening into the suction chamber, said casing having screen closed outlet openings therein for direct communication of the dust chamber to the atmosphere, suction means within the suction chamber, spiral means within the dust chamber andv disposed in the path of the dust'laden air from the suction chamber for directing the same in as piral path to reduce the velocity thereof the inlet chambers and the latter each opening into the nozzle, said transverse partition having an opening therein and providing direct communication between the suction and dust chambers, said casing having screen' closed outlet openings therein for direct communication of the dust chamber to the atmosphere, suction means ,within the suction chamber, means within. the

air

dust chamber for receiving the dust lade from the suction chamber and being shaped to direct the air in a spiral path, a brush within the nozzle and driven by the suction means, and

a removable dust receiving receptacle'for the dust chamber. I

3. A suction cleaner comprising a casing, an

inlet nozzle secured to. the casing, a partition extending transversely in said casing and dividing the latter to provide a relatively large dust chamber in the rearof the casing, a pair of partitions extending longitudinally in said casing and forwardly from the transverse partition, said longitudinally extending partitions providing lateral inlet chambers and a relatively small suction chamber between the inlet chambers, saidlongitudinally extending partitions having openings therein providing communication between the inlet chambers and the suction chamber and the inlet chambers having direct communication with the nozzle, said transverse partition havingv eluding a removable irear wallportion, an inlet and for separating dust from the air, a removable wall portion for the casing, and a dust receiving receptacle slidably mounted in the casing for receiving-the dust from the dust chamber and carried by said wall portion for removal therewith.

'2. A suction cleaner comprising a casing, an

inlet nozzle secured to the casing and extending I casing and forwardly from the transverse partition to the forward portion of the casing, said longitudinally extending partitions providing lat- .eral inlet chambers and a relatively small suction chamber between the inlet. chambers, said suction chamber opening on opposite sides into removable rear wall portion.

nozzle secured to theicasing, means dividing the easing into a relatively small suction chamber I having indirect communication with the nozzle and a relatively large dust chamber having .direct communication with the suction chamber, side walls for the casing and having a plurality of superimposed screen covered slots therein providing outlet openings for the dust chamber,

suction means within the suction chamber, a

spiralv strip having one end secured to the removable rear wall portion to be carried thereby,

said strip being arranged in the path of dust dust receiving receptacle in the lower end of the dust chamber, said receptacle being detachably secured to the casing and fixed to the removable rear wallportion, and a handle secured to th CARI; w. onson; 

